It Seems as All Is Dying and Would Lead the World to Mourn
by Nik216
Summary: A one shot that immediately follows, "By the Pale Moon Light"... "Anguish- pure, unmitigated, immeasurable and unfathomable pain wracked her body as she brokenly wept into the cold, empty darkness. There weren't tears enough for what had been done to her; it was as if someone had torn out the very heart from her chest. She was nothing but an empty, hollow, soulless- thing."


**AN: I have had the worst week ever…seriously. *Sigh* It was however very conducive to my muse…and as a result you have a wonderful little one shot that is about as bleak as a winter night in the Arctic.**

**This one shot immediately follows "By the Pale Moon Light" and serves as a prequel to "Rise and Rise Again."**

**Got it all in here…some adult material…angst...impulsiveness that backfires...and downright misery...**

**To my dear friend…this one is for you…enjoy your pain XD.**

**Still own nothing…just my obsession… **

**And I PROMISE I will get to work on "All That Have Fallen Are Not Vanquished" soon! The little voice in my head is a crazy lady lately!**

**I am releasing this without a crazy edit...but I just want it out...I'll probably adjust this weekend : )**

* * *

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." ~ Kahill Gibran

* * *

Anguish- pure, unmitigated, immeasurable and unfathomable pain wracked her body as she brokenly wept into the cold, empty darkness. There weren't tears enough for what had been done to her; it was as if someone had torn out the very heart from her chest. She was nothing but an empty, hollow, soulless- _thing._ With a shaking hand she held the blade against her chest, the sharp bite of the metal tip into the soft flesh of her breast pulled a choking gasp from her trembling lips- it would be so easy… so simple…with one brave moment she could end all her suffering. This was the only way; she couldn't survive without him by her side...

* * *

Talia stretched languidly in her bed, arching her lithe body like a contented cat; it was still dark, just before dawn, but the early hour did nothing to dim the anticipation in the pit of her stomach. Never in her life had she enjoyed such freedom and exhilaration. Since the night Bane had spent in her bed four days ago, they had been meeting in her quarters whenever the opportunity presented itself. Indeed, it appeared that once her friend had shucked off the idea of _that_ taboo- nothing was off the table. She bit back a loud, lusty groan at the memory of the previous evening:

_She had been returning from the main floor of the temple after the late day prayer and meditation when he cornered her in the alcove of a small hallway. She'd nearly screamed out in shock as his arms went around her waist, spinning and twisting until she was pinned against the wall- both of her wrists encircled by one of his large palms and the other resting gently against her mouth._

"_Here," He rumbled in little more than a murmur along her neck, "Now."_

_Her eyes nearly rolled back in their sockets as he lifted her off the ground, his hands parting the richly embroidered, maroon Tibetan style dress she wore easily to grab her bare thighs. Talia had never been one for overtly _female_ clothes, the simple and comfortable black pants and tops worn by all in the temple generally served her just fine; but she had been in an unusually feminine mood as of late, and as her protector's questing fingers stroked along the wet, aching evidence of her arousal she knew she'd never wear pants around him again. Once she felt balanced in his strong grasp, her hands quickly snaked down between them to tear at the ties of his thick cargo pants; whimpering when she freed him, feeling the familiar hot, hard weight against her hand as she pulled him into her body._

_It was too much…too fast…too hard…she felt like she was going to shatter at the intensity of it all._

_Bane was almost feral in his power as he took her at a savage pace, his hips snapping into her with such brutal thrusts they were sure to leave bruises in their wake. Talia could do nothing but grab his strong shoulders and hold on as tears began to fill her eyes, his hand quickly shot back up to her mouth to stifle her screams. It was ridiculously dangerous, they could be discovered by any one of the other soldiers at any moment, and the peril only served to amplified every sensation ten-fold. She detonated like a bomb only a minute later, her insides squeezing and contracting around him violently as he came long and hard with a whispered snarl._

_They quickly righted themselves and he caressed her mouth with a feather light kiss of his thumb, before they both turned around and parted ways without a backwards glance. Her heart had been pounding as she practically ran the rest of the way back to her bedroom; and as she closed the door and caught sight of herself in her full length mirror she was infinitely glad that no one had seen her. If they had there would have been no doubt what she had been doing. Her hair was mussed out of the braid from where it had been rubbed against the wall, an unnatural flush decorated the neckline of her dress, bleeding up her neck to color her cheeks; and her lips were plumped and pink from the pressure of his hand- she looked, for lack of a better word, like she had been good and properly fucked. _

A purely satisfied sigh puffed out of her as she finally got out of bed and moved over to her sprawling closet with a swing in her hips; now what should she wear to sit up on her little balcony like Rapunzel and watch him train? The beautiful indigo of one of the dresses immediately caught her eye and she pulled it out and stared at the intricately designed fabric. It was made of richly woven cotton, with embellishments of satin and silk along the wide bell sleeves, the bodice was in the simple wrap style indigenous to the area; its v-neck would show off the delicate bones of her décolletage while still managing to be conservative, the length coming right down to the floor. It was gorgeous; a frown suddenly dampened her mood when she realized why she'd never worn it before- it had been a gift from her father a year ago to mark her eighteenth birthday.

He'd presented it to her with one of his usual remarkably disinterested smiles; the ones that were nothing more than an involuntary movement of muscles, only a curl of a lip that never reached his eyes or held any emotion whatsoever. She half wondered if he had ever been truly happy; had her mother seen him smile for real? Would he have smiled on their wedding day? If they hadn't been separated…would he have smiled at her and held her close when she was a child?

None of it mattered now. Henri Ducard had died the day he was exiled from the warlord's kingdom, and Ra's al Ghul's only concern for his daughter was that she was, 'coming of age and needed to conduct herself in a manner appropriate to one of her lineage and status.' He saw her as nothing more than a beautiful breeding vessel to further his bloodline in the League of Shadows, a woman whose purity and virginity would secure him immortality.

As if her own body wanted to counteract the emotions swirling around in her head an aching twinge fluttered between her legs- a reminder of _truth_, of the man who had already taken possession of every part of her, mind, body and soul. She pulled the dress off the wooden hanger and slipped it over her nude form, surmising that perhaps just this once she would take her father's advice and wear it to impress someone she meant to bind herself to always.

* * *

Talia breezed out of her room just as the morning sessions were about to begin. The temple air was crisp and cool, and a shiver raced up her exposed legs beneath the flowing fabric that had just as much to do with the temperature as it did with her eagerness. She wasn't always a vain creature- but she knew she looked striking; her long, dark hair was left loose, tumbling to the middle of her back in soft waves and the dress brought out the blue in her wide eyes while emphasizing her alluringly feminine form. And as she finally emerged onto the small balcony overlooking the sparring floor she held her breath waiting for him to see her.

Whatever she expected to see, or feel, was nothing compared to the reality. One minute he was pacing amidst the crowd with his hands tucked proudly into the lapels of his uniform and the next he froze, his hazel eyes moving up to take her in. To the rest of the room it was a barely noticeable movement, a flicker of a gaze that was over in seconds- but to Talia, it was as if he had walked to the middle of the room and screamed at the top of his lungs. In that simple flash of his eyes and the unashamed need in them he stripped her of every conceivable defense and laid her bare- her hands gripped tightly at the railing, needing it for support as her pulse raced and her knees went weak.

How had she been able to hide _this_ inside of her all of this time? It was like trying to hold back the ocean in the middle of a hurricane, her head spun at the thought of her father returning and the way she would have to resume her façade…it was going to be impossible.

And perhaps, if it had ended at that one look, it may have gone unnoticed from the shadows- but there was another set of eyes that moved in her direction.

An initiate dared to flick his head up to stare at her, for an instant, it could have been no more than a passing glance- a simple correction of balance as he moved through a particularly difficult set of moves. But it was not missed. In an flash Bane was on him, his fist striking at the middle of his back with a loud thud. The man lurched forward and hit the floor and the others immediately broke formation, filing to the outside of the room as her friend stalked over, grabbing his uniform in two handfuls and dragging him to his feet. Without a word his fists began to fly again- raining down with inhuman brutality and force, his movements containing none of the finesse and skill of the martial arts he knew- this was pure malice, each violent blow meant to do nothing but destroy the man in front of him.

Talia should have been appalled and sickened by the display of sheer cruelty, but as the loud, repeated crack of hard flesh against bone echoed through the quiet room she could not deny the way it quickened her breath- seeing him absolutely and utterly dominate another person with nothing but his bare hands, the same hands that knew every inch of her body, was excruciatingly arousing. A flood of red hot liquid desire rushed from her core and she had to squeeze her thighs tightly together to relieve some of the throbbing pressure. Her lips parted in a soft moan as the slick wetness rubbed off onto the silky skin of her thighs- she wanted him _now_. She was so distracted by the sensations and the fog of lust that she missed the moment she was joined by another on the balcony.

"Enough!"

The harsh, cold sound of her father's voice was enough to immediately douse the flames in her body and replace it with a frigid wave of fear. Her hands shook as she gripped the railing and willed her pulse to control itself as she turned to meet his ruthless stare. There was no warmth at all in his blue eyes as he moved to the edge of the balcony beside her to better see the scene below them, his hands curled up into the lapels of his bespoke, charcoal grey suit as he addressed her friend again, "Bane, what is the meaning of this."

Bane stood up, leaving the poor man in a motionless, bloodied heap on the ground. Talia did not miss the way his fists clenched at his sides or the agitated set of his broad shoulders as he purposely kept his face down, not letting Ra's look into his eyes. "The recruit was undisciplined and fell out of line Demonhead," he responded, the rage lessening as he continued, "I reminded him of his place."

Her father's eyes narrowed for an instant before he nodded, "And I do hope that you have enlightened him with your _own_ knowledge on this subject."

The reply set Talia's heart galloping furiously in her chest, and even Bane seemed to freeze momentarily before letting his dark stare rise up from the floor, "I have."

"Get him to the healers, now. And Bane- to my office, I have mission parameters to discuss with you immediately." Ra's commanded loudly before turning finally to look at his daughter, taking in her unusual attire with much more interest and scrutiny than she would have liked at the moment.

Her mind reeled as feelings of fear and panic melded with the remnants of arousal; making her unable to process the simplest of thoughts. Thankfully, she somehow managed to speak without missing a beat, though the inner turmoil was more than evident in her tone, "You have returned early, father."

He did not miss it, his hand reached out to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear and his fingers brushed across her neck; stopping for a second to draw across her pulse point- just long enough to discover the pace of her heart, "Are you disappointed by that my daughter? Should I have stayed away longer?"

Talia let a rehearsed smile fall across her face, "Of course not, it is just rare for you to do so. Is there something that called you back?"

Ra's stared at her for a moment saying nothing, before a practiced, false smile of his own appeared, "Not at all, I just wanted to see you, my dear one." He cupped her cheek with his cold palm one more time before laughing gently, "And it is nice to finally see you dressing as you should."

She returned the laugh as he turned around and left her standing in the empty room completely alone. The minute he disappeared into the shadows her body began to tremble and she put her hand to her mouth- trying to stem her panicked breaths, what was he doing back so soon? Talia shook her head and cleared away the emotion; she was being foolish, and she needed to regain control of herself.

* * *

The remainder of the day was a lonely one. She spent most of it in her room reading as she waited to see either her protector or her father again; but they remained locked up in his private office for hours. When she was feeling particularly bored she had even taken a few trips down the hallway to the outside of the sealed door…though it was completely pointless, even with the silence of her steps their voices instantly stopped as she approached. Their honed senses were far too sharp for even her stealth, so she abandoned her quest in favor of returning to her room, defeated, to rest.

She lay in her bed quietly as she stared off into the fireplace, watching the sun set behind the mountains and welcoming the pitch blackness of the night. Everything in her body told her to stay where she was, that there was too much activity to go to Bane's room tonight. But her mind and her heart overrode her instincts- she needed to see him. If her father had been discussing a mission with him this afternoon, it meant that he would be leaving her soon; and she couldn't bear to think of how long he would be gone this time, or what might happen to him.

Talia stripped down to nothing and slid on her dark colored robe, pausing for a heartbeat to listen for any noise before slipping out and down the hall.

* * *

Bane was awake when she stepped soundlessly into his space, standing at the side of his bed in nothing but his black sleeping pants; a large rucksack was already packed up and leaning against the far wall.

"Where is he sending you now?" The question poured out of her as she crossed the room and slid her hands across his bare back and around his body, pressing her lips against the warm flesh as she held him close.

"I do not want to talk about it, little one." His voice was tinged with impatience and perhaps a bit of irritation as he turned around to pull her into his arms, his hands moving to the ties on her robe and making quick work of the silken fabric, "I'd much prefer to spend our time on other things tonight."

Talia tried to contain a giggle as he hefted her off the ground and playfully tossed her onto his simple bed, before stripping off his pants and climbing onto her; wasting no time at all as he grabbed her hips and drove himself home. He was as passionate as ever, but there was a deeper sensation to his movements tonight, he held her close and though his hips were powerful- there was a potent emotion behind his long strokes that took her breath away.

She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but thought the better of it as he lifted his head up to stare intently at her; bringing his fingers up to trace the outline of her features. The smooth skin of her forehead, across the arch of her brows, down the line of her nose and onto her soft lips as if he was committing every inch of it to memory. With a seductive smile she let her tongue sneak out of her parted lips and take his fingers into her mouth, tracing and suckling the rough digits in a perfect mimicry of his actions down below.

Pooling warmth began low in her body and her eyes fluttered closed as she drew in a ragged breath, losing sight of her friend for only a heartbeat…

She would regret that blink for the next two years.

It all happened like some sort of terrifying nightmare, a twisted re-imagining of the day that her mother was brutally taken away from her. In a split second the door to the room shattered and splintered on its hinges as fifteen or twenty of her father's soldiers spilled in and wrenched her protector off of her and threw him to the floor. Talia screamed as her father entered, dressed in the black garb of battle and walked over to her pulling her up and off the bed by her hair.

"NO!"

She tried to get to Bane; twisting and tearing away from her father's iron grip as he banded an arm around her chest and squeezed tight- but she couldn't _move_. She could hear the dull thuds of punches and kicks into his vulnerable flesh but he was lost beneath the sea of people- and then a hissing noise that stopped her heart. Oh, god. His mask…no.

Ra's spun her violently and grabbed her arms with an unrelenting, bruising force; his voice taking on a cruel, menacing tone. "How could you! With _him_! You are my _daughter_!"

She pushed her hands against his chest as she tried in vain to get away, tears streaming from her eyes as she desperately tried to do something, to get to her friend, ignoring the fact that she was in front of her father's men completely exposed, "Stop it!" Her voice was a loud, screaming sob, "Father, _please_…I love him!"

In those three words she condemned him.

A look of utter revulsion crossed the Demonhead's face as he flung her to his faithful decoy, Shytan fy al'Zl; who stepped up from the shadows and held her more gently- though with no less force as Ra's stepped towards the mêlée, pulling out his sword. Talia screamed like a wildcat in a snare as he moved forward and placed the blade against the skin of Bane's throat.

Tears of agony were streaming down his reddened face, and the sheer force of the pain that assaulted him left her friend chocking and gasping for air as his massive body convulsed. One side of the mask lay damaged, the tubes had been completely removed and he was literally left paralyzed like a fish out of water.

Her father snarled as he used the flat edge of the blade to move his chin up to look at him, "How _dare _you touch her; _defile_ her with your filthy, unworthy hands. You are nothing more than a common criminal and I should have left you to rot in that hole. But no matter, I will deal with you now as I should have dealt with you then."

Talia screeched in panic, begging for mercy, that is was her fault…all of this had been _her_ doing.

"Mercy?" Ra's sneered, "I have shown this man mercy; I have taken him in, fed him, nursed his wounds- and how has he repaid me? As a criminal would, by stealing from me- _corrupting _what is most precious to me."

Bane groaned loudly, as if he was trying to reply- but his body had all but shut down.

"But _I _am no criminal. I will give you a choice, death…or exile?"

"Exile." His voice was nothing but a garbled, ragged cough, and Talia could not stop the hysterical wail that gripped her as he spoke.

"Very well," He withdrew the blade and stepped back, his shoulders regaining their regality and poise, "You are hereby excommunicated from the League of Shadows, never to return under penalty of death- you no longer have the privilege of service, nor the Demonhead's protection."

The men were on him instantly- dragging him from the room, away from her, taking no more than the blanket from his bed. She screamed out to her protector as he left her sight; words that they never bothered to express- ones that never needed to be said- that she loved him, that there would be no other for her, and that she would see him again.

* * *

She was all alone- completely and wholly alone.

Her father had dressed her back into her discarded silk robe, ignoring her tears and the absolute devastation that wracked her body, and walked her back to her private rooms; leaving her on her bed. "You will remain here until I tell you that you may leave, do _not _defy me Talia," his words were as cold as ice as he turned away and locked the door behind him.

* * *

Hours later she stood in the early morning light with her blade in her hand, pressed right above her heart. She had screamed and cried until her throat was hoarse and there was nothing left inside her body, and now she prepared to end it all. There was no way he could have survived…not like that…and if he was gone, she wanted to be with him.

Her eyes slid shut and just as she began to press the lock on her door 'clicked'. Talia spun around and hid the blade behind her as the door slid open to reveal her father's shadow, and the old healer, Dorjne-Naljorma. The woman slowly walked in with a wicker basket in hand and placed it at the foot of her bed as the door was closed again and locked behind her. She moved around the bed with careful and precise steps as she unpacked the same intricate porcelain jars that Bane had used less than a week ago to give her such pleasure- and as she unfurled the crimson blanket they'd lain upon it nearly undid her.

"I can't be calm," Talia mumbled as the tears began again, the wetness in her eyes irritating the already swollen flesh on her cheeks, "Please, I can't lie down."

The old woman seemed to ignore her, in favor of walking over and grabbing both of her hands in hers and pulling her towards the bed. Her hands were warm and soft as paper as she sat Talia down and climbed up next to her, and instead of helping her lie down on the blanket; she reached out with her arms and cradled her body against her chest. The calm rocking motion and the gentle embrace was enough to make her breakdown_ again_- she clung to the old woman as the anguish rushed out of her.

"I miss him," She whispered brokenly, "I miss him so much."

Talia didn't know if she understood anything she was saying at all. But it felt good to have some measure of comfort, someone to hold her as everything fell apart. She let her cry and held her close until the sun had risen into the morning sky, and then finally she lifted her face and wiped away the redness with soothing swipes of her fingers.

"You rose." The words were thickly accented and it took her a moment to understand what she had said. But the determined light in the woman's dark brown eyes gave her a sudden feeling of strength, "You rose up."

She swallowed hard over the sadness in her throat as the old woman held her face in her hands and spoke emphatically, "You rise again."

Yes. Talia slowly sat up as the words rang in her ears, she had already done the impossible once; she had climbed out of the Pit when men three times her size had failed. Her protector- Bane- had been the one to let her climb, the one to give her the strength to fly, and now she would not let her father clip her wings. She would wait, she would bide her time, and when the moment came she would stretch her wings, ascend to freedom and find her friend.

* * *

**So yea…there you have it…complete trauma…**

**Please review…it would make my week….**

**I am inclined to open up for a request for a one shot…just one…can be set during any time that I have written…whatever gets my interest going the most will be written…(and I won't stray from my headcannon.)**


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